F.W. de Klerk

Frederik Willem de Klerk (18 March 1936-) was President of South Africa from 15 August 1989 to 10 May 1994, succeeding P.W. Botha and preceding Nelson Mandela; he also served as Deputy President from 10 May 1994 to 30 June 1996, succeeding Jacob Zuma and Thabo Mbeki and preceding Alwyn Schlebusch.

Biography
Frederik Willem de Klerk was born in Johannesburg, South Africa on 18 March 1936, and he entered the National Party youth organization (Jeugbond), proceeded to study law, and became an attorney in Vereeniging in 1961. He became an MP for the National Party in 1972, and he became a cabinet minister in 1978. In 1982, he became leader of the pivotal Transvaal section of the NP, and he became the leader of the NP following P.W. Botha's stroke in 1989. He took part in encouraging Botha to resign before becoming President, and he became known as a pragmatic politician; he accepted the need to come to an agreement with the black majority of the country, particularly as long as it was still represented by a unified and moderate leadership. On 2 February 1990, he gave a dramating speech at the Parliament in Cape Town, announcing a "new South Africa" based on racial equality, and he immediately ordered the release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisonerse on 11 February. He also lifted the ban on the Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania, the African National Congress, and the South African Communist Party. In 1992, he called a referendum among White South Africans in which two-thirds approved an end to the apartheid system, which was implemented. De Klerk was given the Nobel Peace Prize, and his party became the second largest in South Africa after winning 20.4% in the first free, universal election in South Africa's history. He apppealed to many people of mixed race and exploited their fears about the ANC's inexperience in government, and he became Deputy Prime Minister alongside Thabo Mbeki. He subsequently failed to extend the NP's popular base to the black communities, and he led his party out of the coalition with the ANC in 1996, becoming leader of the opposition. In 1997, he retired from politics, and he would speak about his friendship with Mandela for years to come.